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Telescope for a newbie: Smart app enabled?
(lemmy.ca)
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this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2026
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Yeah I'm already looking for similarly priced telescopes without smart connection features. I didn't even think of second hand, I'll check out my area!
Will most new telescopes will be able to connect to a laptop though? Looks like Stellarium has an option to display directly from a scope and I see most scopes make mention of software so I'm guessing they all pretty much have a connection option?
imminent_nebula@lemmy.ca Most go-to telescopes should connect to a computer. Older ones might use a serial cable instead of USB, but anything made within the last 10 year likely uses USB cables.
And you can get a USB -> serial cable if something attractive appears.
Awesome that's what I thought, thanks. I'm gonna start with something basic to learn the ropes but your mention of celestial coordinate systems has already piqued my interest so I expect that'll be something in my near future lol.
There's not much in my area for used but I did find a once-used Celestron NexStar 90SLT which retails around $830 CAD. Not sure I want to drop $600-700 on my first telescope tho lol. Might just check to see what he wants for it first just in case tho.